Join the Dance
by Deception'sChosen
Summary: A fic for Daughter of Horus. Kirara/Ukyo. Kirara meets a girl in the Amanushi's harem that she thinks may be from her own village. Summary sucks. Rated T for later chapters. Please review. I own only Kaen.
1. Chapter 1

Join the Dance

Join the Dance

Chapter 1

Kirara sat up slowly, feeling the silken sheets under her rocking and hearing wheels under her. She opened her eyes too see that rather than being in the cart with Ukyo, may birds pick off his creepy face, she was next to a girl about her age who was napping near a woman in her middle years. The older woman servant's plain clothes, but the girl wore silk robes and pants with pretty gold bracelets on her wrists and earrings in her ears.

"Oh, you're up."

The girl sat up and smoothed her mint green hair with a hand that shook slightly. Her wide grey eyes searched Kirara's brown and she smiled. When she saw that the older woman was still asleep, she lowered her voice to a whisper.

"I heard so much about you that I decided that I would come with Ukyo to get you. You really got his attention, girl. What's your name again? Kamima? Konichiwa?"

"Kirara. And you?"

Kirara wasn't sure what to think of the girl sharing her cart. She _seemed_ nice…

"I'm Kaen. I'm of the first rank right now in the harem, but you'll be taking my place soon, no doubt. But until then, I'll stick with you."

Kirara swallowed hard and looked out one of the slatted windows, shivering in the heat of the summer. She jumped when she felt a hand run over her hair. She spun to see a soft smile on her companion's face.

"I'm sorry. You have such beautiful hair, just like my sister's. She was so little when I was taken though, I doubt she would remember me."

Kirara felt a twinge of pity for Kaen. She had been stolen from her family, just as Sanae had? She scooted a little closer to the girl and examined her hair. How had she gotten _green_ hair of all things?

"What was your sister like?"

"She was pretty. I was six when I was taken, and she was about two, I think. Big brown eyes, brown hair that grew so fast that it could be tied back already… She wasn't my real sister, but I adored her. She was all I had really, other than our parents."

"What was your village like?"

Kaen scrunched up her face in thought, tapping her chin and biting her lip for a moment before shrugging.

"I don't remember much about the village. I wasn't let out very much beyond the door. But I remember bandits. The day I was taken, they said something about training me to be a concubine. So, here I am."

Kirara, feeling a little nauseated from all the motion in the cart, rested her head on Kaen's lap and closed her eyes tightly. She smiled slightly when she felt one cool hand touch her forehead and the other play with her hair gently.

"You were trained to be a concubine?"

"Uh-huh. Not really a lot of training involved, but there were a few things I was glad for later."

"Like what?"

She couldn't help it that a little trepidation slipped into her voice. Kaen must have heard it, because she spoke very quickly.

"Oh, nothing bad! Things like, uhm, etiquette, what not to wear, how to sing and dance… Stuff like that. Don't worry, I'll help you. I'll be like your Older Sister! You want to be my Younger Sister? A lot of girls do that in the harem. Come on, it gets lonely there sometimes."

Kirara nodded and looked up to see that Kaen's face had split into a wide grin and the old woman had woke up.

"How old are you Younger Sister Kirara?"

"Eighteen. You?"

"Ah, I'm an old woman. I'll be twenty-three in a few weeks, but don't tell anybody!"

The old woman in the servants clothes cleared her throat politely and held out her hand to Kirara.

"Oh! This is Ume. She can't talk. She's been my governess for years… Since as long as I've been in the palace actually. Oh, you'll love it there Kirara! Silk everywhere, good food, hot baths, anything you want! If they don't have it, they'll buy it for you! Ukyo really is a very nice man. If a girl is tired, he doesn't yell at her like the previous Amanushi did, oh no, he lets them rest. Even calls in a masseuse for her if she wants!"

"Hm."

She was still scared, but now that Kaen had established their relationship as friends, she felt a little safer. If she didn't in the cart, Kaen proved that she would protect her new friend when the other girls started in with their snippy comments and haughty looks.

"At least she doesn't need to have jewels dripping from her body to catch the master's attention and cover her age."

After a little bullying, Kaen got the other women to back off and settled down with a little harp on her knee and motioned for Kirara to lay down.

"You still look tired. I'll sing you something and you can take a nap. I may take one with you. Ukyo's usually in meetings about now."

"Do you know any water songs?"

"I do. Lots of them. I came from a town that was very water-based."

She plucked the strings of her harp and closed her eyes and rocked slightly, slowly opening her eyes. She looked dreamy and far away as she sang, and Kirara began to feel sleepy and let her eyes fall shut.

…That song was so familiar…

…River lullaby…

A/N

Hello all! This story is for Daughter of Horus, but I hope that you all will like it! I already like this, and can't wait to see where the river leads us.

Stick around, for the next posting will be soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Join the Dance

Join the Dance

Chapter 2

When Kirara woke, she saw that it was dark in the communal sitting room that all the women shared and was completely deserted except for herself and Kaen. She picked up one of the tiny lamps and held it over her new 'sister' to get a better look at her. Her face was pretty under the smeared makeup, but Kirara noticed that while some of the smearing came from sleep, a lot of it looked like her eye makeup had been dragged down onto her cheeks by tears. Did she cry often? She seemed to be so cheery…

Kaen's arm shifted and the water priestess looked over at it to investigate the bracelets from earlier, but her attention was called instead to a familiar grey-green tattoo on the inside of her pale wrist. One that she had seen on other girls in her village, girls with higher spiritual ability than the others. Could Kaen be a Water Child?

The older girl's eyes opened suddenly and she smiled slowly.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know. It's dark though."

Kaen sat up and took a lamp from nearby and stood, reaching down her hand and taking the water priestess'. As they walked toward the sleeping quarters, Kaen whispered of how things were done in the palace. One look at Kirara's lost expression made her laugh quietly and assure her that as long as she was around, Kaen would do what she could to look out for her.

"Kaen?"

"Yes?"

Kirara bit her lip and looked down toward her feet for a moment before asking her question.

"Do… Do you ever have strange dreams about water? Do you hear a voice when you're near water?"

"Nothing? No wondering what the spirit of the water looks like? No desire to just jump in a river and never come out? You can't do things that the other women can't?"

Kaen gave her an odd look, tipping her head to one side and giving a partial smile, then simply turned away from the priestess with a shrug of her shoulders. Kirara reached for her water crystal, wanting to try to use it to detect secrets and lies, but found it didn't hang from her wrist.

"Kaen!"

"What? Is it another water question, because if it is, I'll shove this lantern so far up your nose – "

"My water crystal! It's gone! Did you take it?!"

"No. Come on, let's look."

Kaen spun and looked toward the floor, retracing their steps and bending low to investigate every tiny glimmer.

Kirara crawled on her hands and knees trying to see, tears in her eyes. How could she have lost the precious artifact from her village? How could she not have noticed that it was gone when she first woke up? Usually she could feel it when the thing was gone from her, like a part of her spiritual body was missing, so why not this time?

_It's Kaen, _she thought, watching the older girl brush back a bit of hair angrily and look into a dark corner, _her spiritual power must be as strong as the crystal's. That would explain a lot…_

"If you lost it, then you're going to be in trouble, aren't you?"

The water priestess nodded, chewing her lip nervously. What if the other women had gotten a hold of it? What if Ukyo had found it?

"If I do something, will you keep it a secret?"

"Huh?"

Kaen held a fine crystal bowl in the hand that didn't hold the lamp, a serious look on her pretty cat's face.

"If I show you something, will you keep it a secret?"

"Why?"

"If you won't keep it a secret, I won't use it to help you."

Kirara knew by looking at her that the older girl was serious about what she said, and when she didn't answer right away, Kaen began to put down the bowl with a shrug.

"I won't tell a soul, Sister! I promise!"

Kaen looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly, picking up the bowl and pointing to a pitcher of cold water that sat near Kirara.

"Give me that. I'll show you where the crystal is."

Kirara snatched up the pitcher and gave it to the green haired woman, who had sat down on the cool marble floor and placed the bowl in front of her. Once Kaen had the pitcher, she poured the water into the bowl and took a slow breath and closed her eyes, leaning close to the water's surface and whispering to it. When she raised her head, Kirara's eyes went wide. Kaen's eyes were glowing faintly blue and her hair was moving slowly around as though she were sitting at the bottom of the ocean. Her voice was lower when she spoke, pointing to the bowl of water, which had also begun to glow.

"What you seek is here."

In the bowl swam the face of Katsushiro. Kirara smiled and looked back to Kaen, who began to close her eyes and shake.

"Kaen?"

"I'm alright," her voice normal again, but a little shaky "I just get tired when I do that. Remember, no telling."

Kirara nodded and caught her friend as she folded over in a dead faint.

"So you _are_ a Water Child…"


End file.
